New stoves vs Old Ones

[moparwash]

We all know that todays washers/dryers can't compare to the classics of yesterday, but how do today's stoves match up?..

 

[norgeway]

They DON'T

New stoves are more pitiful than new washers...The enamel will chip to look at it, the sides are painted ,and there is little to no insulation in the doors,also,to get center simmer burners on a gas stove you have to pay a fortune,in the old stoves they were standard equipment,also you can not get a thermostatically controlled unit anymore, in electric ranges, the units are FLIMSY!!! compare new ones with Westinghouse or Frigidaire...NO COMPARISON..try canning on a new range...the glass tops are not suitable, and the coils will break down in no time.

 

[westingman123]

I agree

I have a 1949 Westinghouse range that is a rock solid as the day it was made. Infinite heat control, double ovens and lighted console. She makes cooking a pleasure.

 

[mixfinder]

Oh Contraire

I have a GE profile with convection and smooth top cooking surface. It performance is flawless. It will bake three trays of cookies, Breads, or cakes and they never need to be rotated. The cook top is fast and very easy to keep clean. I was gob smacked the first time I used it and have become so accustomed to using it I need a jump start to go back to the old style. I do not cook on gas. The cavemen tried cooking over flame and decided it was over rated. Sadly, you get just what you pay for. A good range will set you back $1,000 or more. The membrane and circuitry that run the oven is suspect in new ranges of every brand and style. I could not be happier with mine

 

[rickr]

.

I am still using my grandmothers 1937 Roberts&Mandor gas range and LOVE it! It does a wonderful job. I had the oven valve rebuilt two times in the last 30 years. Other than that, she is all original.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Rick, is that a 36 incher? (about 90cm)

As much as I cringe when I hear this, I have to say it myself:

"They don't make them like they used to"

http://www.classicalgasstoves.com/

 

[danemodsandy]

No Contest!

While today's gas ranges do have some energy-saving features like pilotless ignition, and some convenience features like self-cleaning, the quality of older ranges is way above anything you can buy today, even if you spend a ton of money. You get thick porcelain - often even on the sides of the cabinet - you get heavy chrome, you get great overall quality. Owning a vintage range can be a little bit of an adventure parts-wise, but you have a heavy, durable solid piece of equipment instead of flimsy sheet metal and plastic, controlled by weird-science electronics. Let wintage owners here tell you about their ranges, like Greg with his late-'50s GE Stratoliner; most would not trade their vintage units for anything sold today.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

The oldies last and last and last...

I very much like my Jennair smoothtop convection slidein BUT I think my 1926 Magic Chef has that 'class' that most newer ranges lack. I am the second owner and this still works. Back in the days when the family life almost revolved around the kitchen, ranges like this were called upon to do almost everything.

RCD

 

[xraytech]

I have in the main Kitchen a most horrid example of an electric range, I have a Kenmore that is a rebranded Frigidaire, The smooth top is no ttoo bad, but I did have to have the thermostats replaced on both front burners when the stove was barley a year old, the burners would only cook on high and sometimes wouldnt shut off. The Electronic controlled oven is horrid to say the least, It was 50 degrees slow from day one and no matter how many times it is calibrated it is off, I am constantly leveling the stove, but it always slants to the back left, and it is the most uneven heating oven I have ever used, I cant bake in anything that isnt a Wear-Ever airbake or the like insulated pan, and I still have to keep rotating.
In the downstairs kitchen I have the 1962 Frigidaire Flair, it is just wonderful to use and the oven is accurate and even heating, only thing is I dont liek the heat minder burner, prefer a speed heat or a regular burner. The burners heat up super fast too.

 

[maytagbear]

My experience

is that material quality has slipped considerably; performance, however, at least of the newer stoves I have used, is comparable.

I am familiar with Linn's newer Tappan smoothtop, and Dee's GE Profile gas. I prefer Dee's, but that could be because I don't like electric cooktops at all.

I grew up cooking on a 50s Maytag, and then moved on to a Maytag badged Hardwick. Both were excellent, but I loved the Hardtag's pilotless ignition.

My landlord provided stove is an 80s electric Tappan, and it was in sad shape before I moved in. I hope things change before too long.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[travlincub321]

Gas Whirlpool

I am the first inhabetant of my town house and the stove provided was a basic, non self cleaning GAS whirlpool.. Its actually not bad..

The oven heats up quick, it cooks evenly and its good enough..
The cooktop is ok..There is no simmer feature and i think they get a bit too hot and i dont see much benifit in the "power burner" (left front)) but its there.. Plus the grates are one piece things and you cant keep them clean.. The whole top come apart which is nice so it is easy to clean... But it doesnt get all the crud off it..

I give it 7.5 out of 10 stars.. If it was a GE Profile Gas with convection... Well

My prior stove was a GE Profile Electric and that stove was the bomb diggity.. Wonderful stove...

I am actually shocked i like a whirlpool stove.. The prior couple whirlpool stoves ive used, i have hated.. So i was abit shocked.. Dont mind the dirty pan on the stove.. I was trying to stage it

 

[bygted]

My daily driver

No complaints about my old Westy - Cooks much better than any newer stove I have ever used!

 

[bygted]

westy lights

looks cool lit up too!

 

[whitekingd]

My experience on stoves is limited, but,

I LOVE my 1950 Gibson Range with the UPS-A-DAISY cooker! And seven speed burners!! (simmer, very low, low, medium low, medium, medium high, and finally, high!) I've not cooked on too many stoves, but this one is great. Prior to this one, I used a 1960's Kenmore. The biggest difference I noticed was with my pressure cooker. The Gibson will hold the cooker more evenly than the Kenmore.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Soup anyone?

I grew up in a gas market (NYC) and live in a mixed-market (Long Island) which has both gas and electric cooking.

Came to appreciate the benfits of electric being (as a class) it is faster, cooler, safer, easier-to-clean.

Gas is easer to use (visual/intuitive) and less expensive to run (here where I reside and in most parts of the country). Until, of course, one factors in all the extra wall and ceiling washing, room/house painitng, floor cleaning, window washing, curtain washing, etc. You see, that pesky outgassing and oven vent, as well as open flames create a yellow film that coats everything if one does not run an exhaust fan; and even then. Bottom line is-- past a certain age, one realizes there is more to life than being cheap and easy. *FEH!*

Here is my gas cooker, a Magic Chef brand, with which I am totally pleased and could not have done better. I was worried that in a rental aparmtent I'd get an El-Cheapo stove with the broiler/grille in a drawer under the oven cavity rather than at waist-level in the oven cavity itself. it's -a- nice-a and is pyrolytically self-cleaning *YAY!*

 

[bajaespuma]

Ladies, Gentlemen and Undecided:

Here, IMHO, is one of the best gas stoves ever built, the Caloric Heritage, before Raytheon bought out the company, fired all of the Mennonite craftspeople who built these masterpieces, and ruined yet another great American brand. This stove had 5 burners with center ports, one that converted into a handy griddle, a large oven and broiler on the right and an oven on the left that could be, selectable at time of purchase, a waist-high "Ultra-Ray" broiler with built-in rotisserie(sigh!), or a smaller companion oven and broiler below, or a room heater, or just a storage space. And yes, these were available in 40" and 36" widths.And no, they don't make them like this anymore.

 

[moparwash]

59 GE stove is wonderful!

This was left in the basement by the last owners of the house..they bought it new..it heats quick and accurate!..upstairs, they left a horrible new Premiere 36" gas stove...it is flimsy, the oven takes forever to heat up, (hence the name 'Ovezilla') and I cant use the oven in the summer as it makes the kitchen hotter than a Kathie Lee Sweatshop!...did Chambers make a 30" model?

 

[rickr]

Hi Steve, yes the range is a 36 inch model. It has a ceramic lined oven, and the thing weighs a ton! It really does a great job.

 

[panthera]

Depends,

My honey has a '53 Westinghouse Rainbow and a '50 Monarch. We have restored both, carefully, to the manufacturers' standards. The difference between the two couldn't be more noticeable.

The Westy has the best oven I have ever used. Quick to pre-heat, absolutely dependable thermostat. Perfectly balanced results. Burners and deep-well all fast and the infinite heat controls mirror the actual heat load perfectly.

The Monarch is slow to heat, the oven varies radically, the controls are the horrid 110V-220V kind which means they have two heat ranges: Incinerate and too warm to simmer milk. Nothing in between.

I think the Westy's and GEs from the '50s right through the mid-60's Frigidaires were the best. After that, manufacturers started building less durable stoves.

By the by, once a stove gets past the 110-220v element control, replacement parts are no problem for those things which can go wrong. I'd rather take the time and money to rebuild a 50's Westinghouse than buy a brand new anything.

 

[circlew]

Bygted, that's a great kitchen,

It looks very classy. Your Westy looks a lot like the '53 Westinghouse I have that my Mom & Dad bought new. What year is yours? Differences are that mine has window in door, and control panel not exactly the same. Mine has the clock-timer in the middle, with oven control to left, and wind up minute timer to the right. Light switches are in different location, and knobs are a different shape. It is very heavy & well constructed compared to the 6 year old Admiral that's in the kitchen here in the house I'm renting while I'm renovating mine. I can move it with one hand without any trouble. Sure can't move my Westinghouse like that. Also the Admiral sounds like it's going to fall into a heap when the oven door is closed. Oven also takes a long time to get hot compared to my '53. The only thing the Admiral does better is the burners get hot quicker, but also cool down faster. Sorry I don't have any pics I can post of my Westinghouse at this time.

 

[58limited]

I love my 1950 O'Keefe and Merritt, except for the broiler being under the oven (I have the 34" model). I have not been too happy with the modern stoves that I have used in the last 20 years, especially in college. I think the landlords bought the cheapest crap, but then most college students wouldn't have known the difference. Mainly the stoves were cheaply built, the burners would go out, or the thermostat would go out (two temps: off and high).

I have a friend who designed and built her home. She bought a high-end Viking type range and it works well, but I think my O'Keefe and Merritt cooks just as good.

I can't wait to really get going with the restoration of my '36 Chambers Imperial: 5 burners, deep well, extra large griddle with broiler underneath, and two ovens - one standard size, one 50% larger. Now if I only had a place for it inside; I might have to set up a garage kitchen.

 

[westingman123]

I might have to set up a garage kitchen

Where I come from we call that a summer kitchen!! lol Actually, I think I'm going to have to set up a garage laundromat.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I love my vintage electric ranges, but there is one feature in my 80s Amana, my newest range, that I find heard to beat. It has a micro-thermal oven combining the functions of a 230 volt oven with a magnetron. The results are superb. Cakes bake in half the time. A pound cake in a Bundt pan goes in at a temperature 25 degrees higher than the recipe. The door is locked. The microwave delay timer is set for 35 minutes. The power level is set to medium and the microwave timer is set for 5 minutes. The cake bakes with heat alone for 35 minutes then gets 5 minutes of very even, pulsed microwave energy added to the thermal baking to finish. The cake rises beautifully, has a beautiful color and is slightly moister than one baked for twice as long in a strictly thermal process. This stove still has Amana's rapidly pulsing magnetron which even thaws meat on low without cooking it at the edges. On a more practical level, it can deliver crisp, browned frozen French Fries in just over 3 minutes using the broiler and microwaves both going full blast, something a 120 volt appliance can't do.

The surface units are very fast at 1600(6 in) and 2600(8 in) watts, just like my 1964 Westinghouse, and are very flat. The two main faults I find with the stove is that the oven, even though self-cleaning, is poorly insulated and the broiler has no reflector because of the construction concessions to the arcing situation during microwave operation so its performance is weak. For serious broiling, I use one of the ranges downstairs. It is not built with anywhere near the heavy construction of my older ranges, but it does offer a feature simply not available when they were made. None is perfect yet all of them have merits, sorta like most everything in the physical world.

 

[gansky1]

I would agree that most of the older ranges I've had were hard to beat. The 58 Frigidaire, 57 GE I have in the kitchen now and the 59 Turquoise Frigidaire I found on CL are built like tanks. I got all bothered to have a Maytag Dutch Oven range once and found two of them that I combined to make one beautiful range. I was shocked at how long it took to bring a stock-pot to a boil, the oven was probably the most even baking of any gas range I've ever used, but the 25 pound hunk of cast iron in the floor of the oven made all the difference there. That hunk of metal also was the cause of much frustration, if you wanted to cook a 1/2 dozen muffins or a frozen pizza - it was an all evening affair. I spent more time pre-heating that oven than baking in it. Seeing the writing on the wall (and the gas fumes) I twitched my nose and off it went to a good, loving home in Iowa at a friend of Ben's and I put the 57 GE in it's place. I was so glad to get back to my electric range, I can't tell you! I'm excited to use my 59 Frigidaire soon - it's still in the garage undergoing an entire clean and restore right now.

 

[bugsyjones]

I get to use a 2001 GE el-cheapo, almost bottom of the barrel gas stove. The house came with all new GE appliances and the refrigerator is the only one that hasn't required replacement or work. The electronic ignitions on the range don't always start the burners. Just sit there and tic, tic, tic, tic...I've had mechanics look at it but they just say there's air in the lines. Whatev. Now, the oven thermostat is gone crazy. To cook something at 400 degrees means you set the oven for 250. Rediculous. A new stove under 10 years old.

My grandparents, however, have a 1970's HARVEST GOLD, Signature by Montgomery Wards, 'Menu Magic' electric Cooking Center. It is a unique stove because it's slightly smaller that a regular one, and it has TWO ovens. One full size regular oven, and one ABOVE the cooking surface. It's got a flourescent light to illuminate the work area and a clock and timer that STILL WORK. It works for their house because it's kinda small. They bought a new Whirlpool fridge and it looks like a behemoth next to the svelte Signature stove. This is the only appliance that has outlasted all the others they've had EXCEPT for the 1963 Maytag Wringer Washer, which I have now.

~Tim

 

[polkanut]

We have a 1998 Magic Chef 30" gas range in almond that has given us 10+ years of trouble free service. It is self-cleaning, has timed bake, sealed burners, and electronic ignition. The oven heats perfectly, and has stainless drip pans which are a breeze to keep clean, just pop 'em in the dw. I prefer mine over my Mom's 3yo POS GE gas range, don't remember what model hers is right off hand.

 

[danemodsandy]

Oven Thermostat Calibration:

" Now, the oven thermostat is gone crazy. To cook something at 400 degrees means you set the oven for 250. Rediculous. A new stove under 10 years old."

Bugsy:

You might have a very simple problem. If your oven temperature is set by a rotary knob, you can pull the knob off its shaft and you'll see the calibration screw on the back side of the knob. You want to look closely at where the screw is; there are usually directions stamped somewhere close to it. You will probably see an arrow and something like +10 degrees and -10 degrees. Basically, you loosen the screw and turn the calibration one notch for every 10 degrees of correction you want. If the screw is loose when you remove the knob, that is why your thermostat setting is fluctuating; it should be tight to hold a setting.

If you don't have this kind of setup, you may have a calibration adjustment through the electronic readout; look at your range manual for how to calibrate things.

Hope this helps!

 

[sudsmaster]

The main problem with old stoves is... that they are old.

Typically, their chrome drip pans have serious rust issues. The griddles are often scratched and in need of re-plating. The oven doors are often sprung, and the exterior porcelain would be rare if it didn't have at least one chip. The fiberglass insulation probably has absorbed a lot of odors, if not worse - mice. The oven thermostats can be wildly inaccurate, and often the electrics (clocks, fans, wiring, etc.) are shot. Then there are the pilot lights - which are unreliable and an energy waste.

Yes, they can be reconditioned, but one could probably get a modern high quality stainless near-commercial range for the cost of what an older range would cost to be fully reconditioned and be brought up to date with igniters, etc.

OTOH, I wouldn't pass up a minty old TOL Wedgewood or O'Keefe at an estate sale... if the price were right...

 

[laundromat]

GE

In 1984,I was given a 40 inch GE Americana electric range (circa 1966) by John LeFever from Belysville,MD.Along with it was a Westinghouse Roaster oven with the stand nd clock.I grew up using an old,basic "Tragic chef" 36 inch gas range and have the scars to prove it.I told John as much as I wanted to try electric cooking out,that the models I had any experience with had burned everything and I had no dontrol over the heat.John showed me the Sensitemp burner and told me to use it until I was able to use the other burners as the Sensitemp would show me how to set the other three burners to perfection.This range completely converted my taste in ranges from the du;; gas models to the more sofisticated electrics.I cooked up a storm on that model and vowed I would never use flames to cook anything except on a grill.
This had two different electric outlets.One was times,the other was manual.The right,larger oven was self cleaning and the left oven had removable sides,back and bottom panels you would remove to place in the main oven to use for self cleaning(P-7)and the main oven had a rotisery along with a meat probe.

While in Houston,I visited a store called "The Great Indoors",Sear's version of Ikea and walked right over to look at electric ranges.I had a horific Hotpoint from 197?.I saw the unit(JBP83CECC) was marked down from $1899 to $399!!!!!!!! I grabbed the price tag and a salesman and made sure I wasn't seeing things.That model has the ceramic cooktop,a bridge,a three posion set up for the right front,large 10",8",or 6" cookware,warming zone,warming drawer,dual speed convection self cleaning oven and huge see through glass oven window.I did so much cooking and enjoyed every bit of it.I'd recomend that particular model to any and everyone.Nobody else makes one that performs anywhere near what that model can do---and did!!When I left Texas,I sold it to a great friend who was replacing a 197? Tappan basic 30" model. No clock,no light,1 8" burner and 3 6" ones.

 

[bugsyjones]

danemodsandy

I checked the temprature knob as you suggested. It does indeed have the adjustment screws, but they are tight and not loose. I am fairly sure that it is a thermostat problem, because the knob can be shut off completely, and the oven still kicks on.

I don't have the money for a new stove right now, so in the mean time, I've 'ghetto-fied' it by plugging the stove into a powerstrip with an on/off switch. It solves the problem of the oven spontaneously kicking on and wasting my propane. I can just flip the switch.

~Tim